STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
GRAPH BY PAUL RIES
An update on Blaine County’s COVID STATS Research Project will be offered at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 7.
The Virtual Town Hall meeting will examine how this project will help researchers understand the COVID-19 virus and what Wood River Valley residents can do to help with the project. It will also address what the study means in terms of the COVID variants that were recently discovered in Blaine County.
The study is targeting those who have not had a COVID infection or received the vaccine. It hopes to do “a deep dive analysis” on what mechanisms in someone’s immune system respond to prevent them from getting severe illness and potentially prevent them from spreading illness to others.
Participants in the six-month study will be paid $20 for a blood draw, $2 for a weekly questionnaire and $3 for each weekly nasal swab. They will be permitted to receive a COVID-19 vaccine during the study.
Those who are interested can fill out an enrollment questionnaire at https://Blainecovidstats.com.
Wednesday’s talk will feature:
- Blaine County Commissioner Jacob Greenberg
- Dr. Terry O’Connor, St. Luke’s Wood River Emergency Medicine Physician and Blaine Co. Ambulance District Medical Director
- Dr. Tom Archie, MD, Family Medicine, InnerHealthMD, and co-investigator of the study along with O’Connor.
The discussion and a question-and-answer period will be facilitated by Blaine County’s new Administrative Services Manager Mandy Pomeroy.
To join the Virtual Town Hall, register online by going to www.blainecounty.org. Click on the green “COVID-19 Resources” button, and click the register button in the first paragraph. After registering for the town hall, an email will be sent with an invitation and instructions on how to connect online or by phone.
Questions from the public are encouraged and should be sent in advance to town-hall@co.blaine.id.us.